What is the Peace Support Facility?

The Peace Support Facility (PSF) was created in April 2019 further to the December 2018 Stockholm negotiations led by the United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy to Yemen. Working with the parties to the conflict, the purpose of PSF is to support the peace process by accelerating the implementation of agreements reached.

The PSF aims to build public support for the peace process by achieving concrete and rapid improvement in people’s lives in areas identified by the UN Special Envoy. The intent is to demonstrate alternatives to conflict, create local demand for peace, build confidence, and motivate parties to fully engage in the Special Envoy's peace process.

In the last high-level Steering Committee Meeting, the partners of the PSF have agreed on the extension of the project for an additional two-year period ending 31 December 2022.

What does it do?

The PSF aids in the implementation of initiatives agreed upon by the parties, supporting priorities identified during the peace negotiations.

It seeks to deliver activities that mobilise the political process by creating space to implement initiatives that have developed out of dialogue and that contribute to peacebuilding. The intent is that this will occur mostly in neglected areas and/or among underrepresented groups.

It also aims at delivering initiatives stemming out of Track 2 dialogues to build peace from the ground up. These activities aim to support initiatives on a local and/or community-level that emerge from inclusive discussions with middle leadership of the parties to the conflict, youth, civil society, tribal leaders, security actors, and women's groups from different governorates and communities.

As the parties agree to support a future peace deal, the Facility will also support transitional governance arrangements related to core government functions such as the Presidency, the Central Bank, and the security sector.

Update on ongoing projects

The PSF is currently implementing initiatives that emerged from recommendations made from the Port of Hodeidah, Salif, and Ras Issa assessment undertaken in July 2019. Endorsed by the Steering Committee, these include:

• Rehabilitation of the Port of Hodeidah's training centre: The rehabilitation work has been completed. The training centre is now furnished and equipped to support the capacity building of the Yemen Red Sea Port Corporation (YRSPC).
• Rehabilitation of the Port of Hodeidah workshop and generator shelter: Related procurement processes have been launched and the work will start shortly.
• Electrical assessment mission for the ports of Hodeida, Salif, and Ras Issa: The final report with recommendations has been completed. Implementation of the findings is scheduled for 2021.
• Assessment of the damaged gantry cranes: The assessment mission has been completed. A final report and recommendations on the damaged ship to shore cranes have been submitted by the Liebherr Company. Implementation of the recommendations will follow shortly.
• Procurement of spare parts for generator sets and rolling equipment for the Port of Hodeida: The first round of procurement has been completed and a purchase order placed. Spare parts are yet to be delivered. The second batch of procurement is advertised.
• Procurement of Pilot boats: The procurement process is under review and will be advertised by the end of 2020.
• Procurement of Mobile Harbour Cranes: The technical specifications are at the last stages of finalisation and endorsement from YRSPC.

The PSF is supporting an expert mission to conduct a technical assessment and urgent light maintenance and repairs of the FSO SAFER tanker. The mission will also formulate recommendations on how to permanently neutralise the threat of a spill. The Safer Tanker preliminary assessment initiative will be carried out by UNOPS while PSF will channel donors’ contributions to UNOPS.

Who are PSF donors?

The PSF has initially been established as a two-year initiative with a budget of US$ 20 million for 2019-2020. The budget of US$ 20 million did not include the incoming contributions to support the damage assessment and emergency repair of the FSO SAFER tanker.

To date, more than US$ 21.6 million (including nearly US$ 2.5 million for the SAFER Tanker assessment mission) have been mobilised from 11 donors including Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and UNDP.

PSF Resource Mobilization Summary

*Data as of 18 Nov 2020

Financial Situation

The PSF has mobilised 100 per cent of its planned budget for Phase 1 (2019-2020) including funds for the preliminary assessment of the Safer Tanker from France and Germany. Italy has contributed US$ 290,521 earmarked for the COVID-19 response. The project has been extended for additional two years until 31 December 2022.

In 2019, the project focused upon recruiting personnel and experts, developing partnerships, setting up the governance structure, assessing potential initiatives and preparing technical work and high-level political dialogue to align both parties around the identified initiatives.

In 2020, key procurement initiatives were focused on rehabilitating the Port of Hodeidah. The rehabilitation of the Training Centre at the Port of Hodeidah has been completed and handed over to the port authorities. The assessment of damaged Gantry Cranes has also been completed. IT equipment for the training centre and personal protective equipment (PPE) have been procured and handed over to the YRSPC. The purchase orders for spare parts for tugboats and the marine plates have been issued, which are expected to be delivered the end of December 2020. The procurement of the rehabilitation of the generator shelter, workshop, spare parts and pilot boat is ongoing.

Under Window 2, a community safety package with two (2) international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and one (1) national NGO has been contracted through Responsible Party Agreements to work with communities to address safety issues.

The community safety package was tabled by the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to Yemen (OSESGY) and has been implemented since the end of November. The initiatives aim to help communities:

1. Engage with security forces and armed groups to reduce the impact of the war on civilians to address the immediate security needs
2. Build trust between communities and security forces through dialogue
3. Contribute to locally designed options for security and safety solutions while enhancing the capacity of local officials and institutions for civilian and community safety as well as their understanding of human rights to catalyse the political process
4. Ensure local needs are considered when a broader peace agreement is reached.

In addition, the rehabilitation of water infrastructure in Dahmar City and Maghreb Ans is an initiative tabled by the Berghof Foundation under the framework of its broader project on Confidence Building Measures (CBM) around water conflicts in the two locations. The PSF is funding the rehabilitation component. The initiative is approved by the Project Board and contract negotiations are ongoing with the company that will contract the civil works.

A cleaning initiative in Taiz is tabled by DeepRoot for a garbage collection campaign in different areas and across the frontline. The operation will be implemented on a quarterly basis to avoid garbage to build up during the sensitive period of COVID-19. The initiative is approved and PSF is waiting for the security situation to be conducive for its implementation.

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